CFI Unveils New Mission Statement

July 13, 2009

The Center for Inquiry has adopted a new mission statement, which makes its first appearance on our website on Monday, July 13. The new statement does not reflect a fundamental change in the work of the organization. However, we believe the new mission statement will indicate more clearly the purposes and goals of our work.

President & CEO Ronald A. Lindsay explains that “we believe the prior mission statement (actually statements, because there were a few different versions) lacked focus. It referenced the promotion of reason, science, and free inquiry—but for what purpose? By explicitly indicating that we aim to foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values, we provide a defined goal and give direction to our activities.”

The longer version of the mission statement, or organizational description (found under the heading
“About the Center for Inquiry”
), details the core competencies and activities of CFI. Significantly, it also provides three intermediate goals of CFI—ending the influence that religion and pseudoscience have on public policy, ending the privileged position enjoyed by religion and pseudoscience in many societies, and ending the stigma attached to being nonreligious—that establish priorities for the organization.